Storm Hawks Fan 3rd Season
by 123leyang321
Summary: Story about Storm Hawks Third season. REVIEW! Key Words: aerrow piper finn junko stork radarr dark ace master cyclonis starling dove ravess repton snipe far side atmos sky knight crystal mage episode raptors condor perry binding new come out nerd corps
1. Prologue - Autor's Notes

**Prologue**

Well, this is my first fanfic so be sweet, alright?

Now I will say that I did not create the Storm Hawks, then all rights are reserved by Nerd Corps and the creator, Asaph Fipke, with exception to my possible OCs and the plot of this story, but the cartoon is of merit of the two above.

Let's go to the chase: This fanfic is about how I imagine being the third season of Storm Hawks, and each chapter is equivalent to one episode. This can show the missing characters, like the Raptors, Ravess, Snipe, and others, and can presents some couples.

Sorry if my English isn't so good, I'm Brazilian, so is a little difficult to me, but I'm trying.

I hope you enjoy, so let's go to the story...

**EDIT - 05/12/2013**

**Well, I've been rewritting the story, because the episodes were too short. Also, my english has improved a lot in all these years, so if you still remember the old story, you'll notice a huge difference, not only in the plot, but in the grammar too.**

**I plan on making about 4 chapters for each episode. The chapters won't be extremely long, but they definitely won't be short.**

******Soon I'll present you the first part of episode 53. ;)**


	2. Warriors From Affair - The Legend

**Episode 53 - Warriors From Affair**

**Part 1 - The Legend**

Cyclonis was in a unknown place, walking towards a kind of castle, with several lights, a huge place that, despite being in this dimension, the Far Side, which has superior technology compared to the rest of Atmos, seemed to be a rustic building. She was a bit worn off: she had just arrived after a terrible defeat and had lost her right hand man, the Dark Ace.

"That wasn't the end." - she said as the memory she had of her Terra falling to the Wastelands quickly passed by her mind - "It was just the beginning..." - she stood for a few seconds in front of the castle's gate - "...of my revenge!" - her voice was changed, she then entered the great gateway as the sound of lightning echoed through the whole place...

* * *

A vast landscape composed by several shinny stalagmites, a green surrealistic sky and a huge tower in the center could be observed by the crew of a lone Condor flying without a course. The ship moved quietly through the huge stalagmites coming from the ground, the breeze beating against its hull. The faint sound of winged creatures gliding in the distance could be heard. The noise of a door opening breaks the foreign harmony: Stork appeared on the bridge to look at the window and sat in the pilot's seat.

The large room filled with pipes had Junko watching over them, in case they need any maintenance, Finn walking by the cannons every now and then so he'd be ready whenever he was needed to blast something, and Piper by the round table, she was trying to piece together the few drawings she had made to create a map of the area, but she wasn't being successful. Soon steps could be heard and Aerrow entered the bridge with Radarr on his shoulder.

"Radarr and I can't find anything in the sky. There are no stars, only northern lights that lead to nowhere." - the sky knight sighed - "Any luck, you guys?" - he asked as Radarr leap off his shoulder.

"The Condor's navigation systems are offline, we can't pinpoint our location at all." - the merb said.

"So you mean this place is like the Great Expanse?"

"No. The compass didn't go crazy like when we were there, it just stopped working. No matter which direction I turn the ship to, the needle remains still. It doesn't point to the north nor any direction whatsoever. And we're too far from Terra Glockenchime to receive our coordinates from the Timepulse." - the pilot just stared at the window again - "I think the Great Expanse wasn't too bad. At least we knew what to expect from there. Here we're just out in the unknown and completely vulnerable, just awaiting our inevitable doom." - he said that way too calmly and that creeped everyone out, so Aerrow took a step away from him.

"Piper, have you figured out a map?" - he asked her.

"Everything looks almost the same, I don't see reference points anywhere, aside of that huge tower, so if we ever lose sight of it, we'll be completely lost." - she lowered her head in defeat - "It's useless... I'm sorry, Aerrow. I think I'm out as the team's navigator." - she briefly stared at him, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Piper..." - he frowned and slowly reached his arm for her as she walked away from the table and went outside. The sky knight lowered his arm, but his frown remained. He felt he should cheer her up, so he followed her.

As he stepped on the balcony, he noticed it was slightly colder in the Far Side than it was in Atmos and the breeze was also a bit stronger, almost like a gust of wind, instead of the soft breeze he was used to, but that'd just make him want to explore those new skies even more, after all, he always loved a challenge. The crystal mage was standing a few meters away from him, her arms resting on the handrails. She noticed his presence and just sighed, while staring at the huge tower in front of them. The sky knight walked to her and assumed the same stance she was in right beside her.

"Are you okay?" - he started.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... I... A moment ago I could do everything to help us, and now none of my skills mean anything!" - she confessed - "I'm totally useless now, you guys have more than enough fighters already, I don't have anything else to offer to the team... I'm so... I'm so..."

"Frustrated." - Aerrow completed the phrase for her as she just stood there staring at him speechless - "I've felt that way too, Piper, when we got turned down by the Council just because they said we're too young to be an official squadron."

"Really? Because you surely didn't sound like you were any frustrated, Aerrow."

"Yeah. As a leader I must always put my team before myself."

"So you'll hide how you're actually feeling for our sake? Don't do that Aerrow, remember your team's looking out for you too."

"I know that and you should keep that in mind too, Piper." - he told her, trying to get her to talk whenever she wasn't okay, and she got the message, since she turned to look downwards - "But it's not a matter of hiding my feelings, I do tell you guys when I'm worried about something. I just won't bother you guys with something so silly. I did realize we didn't have to be an official squadron to keep spreading the good deeds through all the Atmos. Even though it seemed like they didn't want us as a team, they still needed us."

"You're right, Aerrow. I'm being so silly! Sooner or later my help will come in handy. And I'll surely be there whenever you need me." - she said as he smiled, glad that he had cheered her up - "Thanks, Aerrow, you can count on me anytime." - she saluted him with respect and he nodded.

They stood there watching the sky for a moment, until a question passed by Aerrow's mind.

"Piper, how have you been so far?" - that question made the girl stare at him with a raised eyebrow - "It's been sometime since we last talked like this, and I was wondering how were you doing after all that has happened." - there was some concern in his voice.

"I'm okay, thanks for asking, Aerrow." - she smiled - "I'm not even feeling sick anymore. Since you healed me, I've felt good as new, even better!"

"Glad to hear it." - he said, returning her smile.

He was intrigued though, because he had no idea of what had happened. It was a good thing, but if he knew why did that happen, he could try to do the same thing again, in case something wrong happens to Piper. What made it all even more intriguing was what Cyclonis had said. The memory was quickly played on his mind: _"Only a perfect attunement can let the Binding go both ways!"_ What did she mean by that?

"Hmm..." - he muttered.

"What's it, Aerrow?" - she asked curiously.

"I was wondering..." - he started - "Have you figured out what is this 'perfect attu..." - he was interrupted by a weird, loud and extremely high pitched sound.

Everyone had their hands covering their ears until the sound ceased.

"Dude, what was that noise?" - Finn could be heard from inside the bridge as Junko and Stork approached the window in front of him.

The wallop shrugged and Radarr walked outside to join Aerrow and Piper as both the sky knight and the crystal mage stared towards something that caught their attention. A light coming from behind a stalagmite was approaching the ship. Everyone had their eyes shielded, because the light was too intense, once it dimmed a little, Junko spoke up:

"What is that thing?"

Finn pulled the binoculars down and observed.

"I've never seen anything like it." - The sharpshooter said.

The source of that strange light began to take shape as it came near the Condor: large bright blue eyes appeared, it had a winged and scaly body. Its scales were beautiful, they looked like black diamonds. It had long and thick legs and a long tail. It seemed to be a kind of dragon, but it had blue fins on the tip of the tail and the wings were made of a skin similar to that of the caudal fins. Its neck was slightly stretched, its head was big with two spiky horns on the top and a pointy mouth filled with white sharp teeth, and its nose was like that of a typical wallop. From its mouth a dim blue light came, but they could see a bit gagging the creature and reins.

"Look!" - Piper drew the others' attention showing that there was someone riding the exotic beast as Radarr leaped on the handrail and stood there between the girl and Aerrow.

The rider was a female, she had humanoid appearance, with some peculiarities: her skin was slightly purple, she had nails that grew and formed small claws on the tips of thin fingers, her piercing eyes had rose irises and black sclera, her limbs were proportional to those of a common person, but they could stretch a little, beyond human limits, her body was slender, though they could tell it was slightly stronger than that of an ordinary 14 years-old girl. Her black hair with pink tips was tied into two short braids that rested on her shoulders. She wore a short skin-tight metallic purple dress, dark gray pants almost completely covered by her long black boots, pink fingerless gloves, a violet vest which revealed her arms a large violet belt around her hips and two colored ribbons braided together with her hair.

The mysterious rider guided the creature to the hangar and landed there. Radarr jumped from the handrail and landed in front of the foreign pair.

"Radarr!" - Aerrow was alarmed by the sudden reaction, then he stared at Piper - "Let's go!" - he ran from the balcony and went inside the ship, his navigator following close behind. He didn't know if those two could mean potential danger.

Within seconds the rest of the Storm Hawks got to the hangar, all ready to start combat. The foreign girl looked at them one by one: Aerrow had his blades activated, Finn had his crossbow aiming at her, Junko had his knuckle busters lit, Piper was armed with her staff and was holding a green crystal on her free hand. The lilac girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, then she let out her breath and all of the Storm Hawks weapons, but Piper's green crystal, simply deactivated as if they had no more energy left. They watched her with caution, their faces showing they weren't pleased with that action.

She dismounted from the dragon-like creature and slowly kneeled as Radarr carefully approached her. Surprising all of the other Storm Hawks members, she leaned her torso forward, bent her head down, and reached her arms forward slightly, the palms of her hands facing the sky, in other words, her stance looked like a kind of reverence. Radarr sniffed her hands then chirped happily: he didn't sense any danger coming from her, she was friendly after all! The Storm Hawks watched with relief as the girl slowly sit and briefly petted Radarr.

The strange girl noticed the crystal Piper was holding, so she lifted her long arm and drew the crystal to her hand. Everyone was static, except for Radarr, who just observed curiously. The girl stared deeply at the crystal and realized it was a Binding Crystal.

"Are you a Crystal Mage?" – she asked looking at the blue-haired girl.

"Ah... Yes." - Piper said nodding - "How did you guess?"

"Only really powerful Crystal Mages can unlock the powers of the Binding Crystal." - she stood up - "My name is Henny, and this is Orion." - she introduced herself and her dragon-like partner, then she raised her hand, making a semicircular move and the squadron's weapons came back to normal - "I'm sorry for startling you." - she said as she returned Piper's green crystal - "That's just my people's defense mechanism." - she smiled sheepishly, while the Storm Hawks were amazed by her ability - "I see you're not from here. Who are you?"

"We're the Storm Hawks. I'm Aerrow and these are Piper, Radarr, Finn, Junko and Stork. We came from Atmos through a portal." - The squad leader said.

"Affairs from Atmos? So what the Elders tell us is true!" - the lilac girl said.

"What do you mean?" - the navigator asked.

"You see, there's this legend..." - she started.

* * *

_"When the darkness strikes the Greatland..."_

_The Far Side can be seen from the sky, as a huge shadow prevents the light from illuminating the land. The tall bright tower in the middle ceases shining. Several flying creatures fall from the sky, dead. A huge swarm of Night Crawlers darkens even more the sky. The deadly beasts lurking in the darkest places emerge from their nests and cause havoc everywhere._

_"...and each Reign makes its last stand..."_

_An army of armored individuals that looked similar to Henny stands in front of a huge gate, the entrance to their Reign, in an attempt to protect their people from the evil force. But they're seriously outnumbered._

_"...Atmos' greatest warriors will be sent..."_

_Through the portal, six figures enter the Far Side, flying fast in the skies. There's a woman holding two crystals, a man with two twin swords, another man with a crossbow, a bigger figure with shining fists, a tall and skinny figure with no visible weapon and a small creature. Their expressions or clothes can't be seen, they appear to be shadows._

_"...to fight fiercely and put to chaos an end."_

_The six warriors can be seen fighting off the evil army. The crystal mage was imbuing the man with the twin swords with crystal energy, and he defeated several Night Crawlers, while the woman created a shield to protect herself from a huge beast. The beast was being taken down by the big figure with shining fists, while shots coming at him were being deflected by the arrow's of the other man's crossbow. The tall and skinny figure was using a weird mechanic suit created by him to protect the wingman, and the small creature was scaring a huge beast away from the battle._

* * *

"Well... You must be the legendary warriors." - she finalized

"Oh, I knew I was good! My fame even got to the Far Side!" - Finn passed his hand by his hair, trying to look charming. Piper just shook her head at that then shared a quick glance with Aerrow.

"'The Far Side?'" - the lilac girl was confused.

"This is what everyone in Atmos says here is called." - Junko explained.

"Oh, really? Haha, what a funny name." - she giggled - "But the actual name of this place is The Greatland, because, well, you know, it's pretty huge." - she shrugged.

"I noticed you mentioned the word 'Reign' in the legend." - Piper commented - "So if the Far Side is called 'The Greatland', I guess the 'Reigns' would be the Terras then?"

"What's a 'Terra'?" - the foreign girl didn't understand the question.

"A Terra is a civilization built at the top of the mountains in Atmos. We use several kinds of ships, like this one, and skimmers, like the ones over there, to go from one Terra to another." - the navigator explained.

"Yes, also, each Terra is protected by a Sky Knight squadron, for example, the Rex Guardians in Terra Rex or the Rebel Ducks in Terra Gale. But the Storm Hawks are different. We don't protect just one Terra, we travel around all the Atmos and guard it as a whole." - Aerrow said.

"Wow! That's so cool!" - Henny was astonished - "I know it might sound stupid, but I never knew there was life like that in Atmos."

"You mean, you've never heard of anything from there? You have no clue at all about all the horrible diseases, poisonous creatures and deadly places?!" - Stork started poking his head forward, his face was so close to hers that she leaned backwards slightly, his eye twitched a bit by the end of his speech, then suddenly he assumed his normal stance and took several bottles from his pocket - "Well, here is the lamprey fly repellent, scarletma razor-fang arachnoid anti-venom..." - he told a list of several kinds of medicines, antidotes and potions while everyone just stared in disbelief at the amount of things he had stored in his pocket - "...and last and not less important: the anti-mindworm helmet!" - he placed all the bottles and the helmet on her hands, her arms were shaking from so much weight - "I can't give you the AM-3000, since I never obtained it, but this will do, it'll be enough to let you have a slightly safer trip in Atmos. Of course it won't protect you from all of the storms and..."

"Stork! I guess she got your point." - Finn interrupted.

"Hmpf! Don't tell me later I didn't warn you."

"It's not as if we're going back to Atmos so early anyway." - the blonde boy said.

At that, Stork realized they were completely vulnerable in the unknown and he didn't have any repellent or antidote for any kind of new creatures or foreign food they might find, so he finally snapped. His eye twitched frantically, and after letting out a loud and high pitched scream, he quickly grabbed all of the bottles and the helmet from Henny's arms and ran as fast as he could inside the Condor. The lilac girl just exchanged a confused glance with Orion, the latter had a creeped out expression on its face, while the girl just smiled awkwardly and shyly.

"Uh... Sorry about Stork, he's not used to this place yet." - Aerrow spoke.

"It's alright." - she smiled.

"You said you've never heard of people in Atmos." - Piper commented again - "Why is that? I figured that with so much technology you'd know everything about us."

"Well, we do have some technology, but it's nothing fancy, really, unless you're talking about some of the other Reigns or the Hooded Shadows. By the way, I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised, because our Reigns are not like the Terras you mentioned. We don't have Sky Knights, we have the Royal Armies and we don't live at the top of mountains, we have to share the same land with our neighbor Reigns."

"So you don't fly in the sky with ships like ours? And what are 'Hooded Shadows'?" - Junko asked.

"Not really, we don't. We mount on our partners and explore." - she gently rubbed her hand against Orion's face, while it closed its eyes and smiled - "And the Hooded Shadows are really skilled fighters, they used to act only at night, but I think they found a way to overcome their weakness related to light."

"Wait, those are the Night Crawlers!" - Aerrow realized.

"Oh, that's what you call them. By the way, how did you know about their technology? Have you met with them?"

"Yes, we thought they were an elite squadron that only answered to Master Cyclonis. She used to rule Cyclonia and she was trying to conquer the world for her, but we stopped her." - Piper said - "Though when we were about to arrest her, she entered the portal and fled here, so we followed her."

"So the Hooded Shadows went to Atmos?! The Elders were right, the darkness is approaching!"

"What do you mean? You've said something like that before." - Finn asked.

"Some weeks ago the Elders told us about a glimpse of dark energy entering the Greatland. Sometime later a huge army of Hooded Shadows was reported as moving. We've never seen something like that before. But then the dark energy was gone. So we thought everything was okay. And then the lone dark energy came back, though we can't pinpoint where did it go."

"That must have been Cyclonis." - Piper figured - "How did you end up coming to us, Henny?"

"After those reports I was sent to do some reckon. And... Well..." - she wasn't sure about how to tell them what she had to say.

"Well...?" - Junko asked, trying to get her to finish.

"Orion and I... We felt some disturbing energy..." - she stared at Piper with an upset expression - "...Coming from you."

Everyone's eyes were on Piper. The crystal mage was caught off guard by that, her face was a frown. She stepped away from them a bit, everyone observing her. Aerrow's and Junko's expressions showed they were worried about her, while Finn's and Radarr's showed they were a bit creeped out.

"Piper..." - Aerrow began.

"No, don't say that!" - the girl interrupted him, she knew where that talk was getting to.

As she continued backing away from them, the sky knight approached her, reaching out one arm, he was trying to calm her down. Suddenly, a weird noise was heard: the ship was giving up!

"The energy is almost over, we are going to fall!" - Stork shouted from the bridge.

"Junko, go to the engine room and see if we still have enough fuel!" - Aerrow gave the orders.

"We only have one more box of crystals!" - Junko returned a few seconds later.

"There's no way anymore, we're doomed!" - the merb yelled.

"Look!" - Finn warned pointing to a huge cloud of flying creatures.

Their heads resembled those of the eagles, they also had claws similar to the bird's, but instead of feathers, they had gray scales covering their bodies. They had spiky tails that could pierce even the hardest rocks and large wings that resembled the ones from a pterodactyl. The monsters began to attack the Condor, their tails creating holes on its hull.

"What are those things?!" - Junko asked alarmed.

"They're pteroeagles! I think we might be in their hunting area!" - Henny told them.

Finn shot at them a few times with his crossbow, but his arrows didn't seem to be very effective.

"Oh, man!" - the blonde complained. Everyone stared at the huge group of flying beasts. They got themselves into a big trouble now.


	3. Warriors From Affair - The Storyteller

**Episode 53 - Warriors From Affair**

**Part 2 - The Storyteller**

The huge group of flying beasts was greatly threatening the Condor.

"Finn, Junko, go to the cannons!" - Aerrow told them.

Both quickly assumed their positions and started shooting. The blasts dealt some damage, but they were still not very effective.

"They're not leaving, Aerrow!" - Finn shouted with a worried look.

"If they keep it like this, we're done for!" - Junko warned, his face was very serious.

"You guys!" - Henny said, drawing the attention of the three crew members that remained in the hangar - "Follow me! I'll take you to my Reign. We'll be safe there, the pteroeagles can't stand higher temperatures!" - she proceeded to mount on Orion.

"Alright!" - Aerrow nodded then turned to his pilot - "Stork! Follow Henny! She knows a way out!"

The foreign pair soared in the sky and flew in front of the bridge's window, so the merb could properly track where they were heading to. But as soon as Henny and Orion flew forward, a swarm of pteroeagles attacked them.

"Oh no! Henny!" - Piper screamed alarmed.

"Look out!" - Aerrow threw himself against her, knocking both out of the way of one of the beasts that was trying to grab them with its sharp claws - "Are you okay?" - he quickly asked.

She nodded slightly, she was still a bit shaken by what Henny had revealed. Both kneeled and shielded themselves as the foreign pair flew right above them while being chased by several flying beasts. Finn and Junko kept blasting them, trying to give the Condor more time. Suddenly, one of the creatures flew by the sharpshooter's cannon and knocked him off the seat.

"Finn!" - Junko yelled as his best friend was on freefall.

Henny noticed that and gasped.

"Orion!" - she proceeded to remove the bit gagging her partner - "I need you to blind them, now!"

Now free from the bit, Orion managed to open its mouth properly and let out an explosion of hard blue light, temporarily disabling the pteroeagles. With that, Henny guided it to the falling blonde boy and grabbed him just in time.

"Gotcha!" - she said.

Finn just sighed in relief and smiled. The dragon-like creature kept letting out the explosions of light whenever many flying beasts tried to attack them, keeping the trio safe and also allowing Stork to properly see them among that swarm of enraged creatures. The ship was finally moving faster. They might have a chance!

"Quick, we're almost there!" - the lilac girl said.

The further they went into the Reign's area, the hotter it became and the pteroeagles started fleeing. But then one of the most enraged ones flew really fast close to Aerrow, Piper and Radarr and grabbed the little animal.

"Radarr!" - Aerrow yelled, then, without hesitating, ran towards them and leaped from the ship, grabbing a hold of the beast.

"No! Aerrow!" - Piper screamed reaching out an arm for him.

She observed as her friends were starting to get out of sight, then pulled her green crystal from her pocket. She stared at it for a moment, thinking about what Cyclonis had told her when the Empress invaded her mind and Henny's new revelation. Then she frowned, closing her eyes.

"No... Don't think about it! Aerrow needs my help!" - she then proceeded to focus, a green glow formed around her as she prepared to release the power from her crystal - "_Titan's Mi...!_" - but before she could complete the spell, she lost her balance, interrupting her focus because the sudden quick power loss of the ship, which made it fall quickly then float again. Then the power gave up for good.

"We are... SO DOOMED NOW!" - Stork screamed in despair, because now they were in freefall.

"You'll have to make an emergency landing!" - Henny told him.

Stork turned the Condor abruptly. It flew into some rocks, causing everyone inside to be dragged backwards. The ship hit the ground and slid a few feet until it finally stopped. After dust could disappeared, the Condor could be seen and it wasn't too damaged. Orion landed near a coughing Piper, and Finn dismounted as Junko and Stork came running from inside the hangar.

"Wow, dude, that was close." - the sharpshooter sighed - "Did we all make it?"

"No... Aerrow and Radarr are gone." - the navigator said sadly.

Everyone else looked towards the cliff they came from and gasped. They couldn't lose their leader in their first day in a new place, they just couldn't!

"I'm sorry, I should have taken you guys to safety first." - the foreign rider said, an upset tone could be noted in her voice.

"Don't blame yourself, it was my fault. I didn't react fast enough." - the crystal mage was depressed and the lilac girl could sense this, so she stared at her in sympathy and worry.

"Orion and I can look for them." - she offered - "I don't think they're too far, the pteroeagles can't carry too much weight at once without that slowing them down."

Before she could take flight, they saw a shadow in the mist. It had the shape of a flying beast.

"C'mon, will they ever give up?" - the sharpshooter aimed with his crossbow, but when he was about to shoot, Piper's hand stopped him.

"Wait!" - she warned him as the shadow came closer and revealed the beast had two figures riding it - "It's Aerrow!" - the navigator said excited.

"And he is riding a pteroeagle! That's really impressive!" - Henny said - "Though I guess he'd like some help." - she then started flying with her partner.

Aerrow struggled a bit to ride the beast, while Radarr was holding tightly onto him for his dear life. The foreign pair approached them, the lilac girl reaching one arm out for them. Radarr squeaked happily, glad that she was helping them, then gestured for his sky knight to reach his arm out as well. When they were all sure Henny and Aerrow had a good hold of each other's wrist, the girl pulled them with all her strength, and, as the red headed boy released the flying beast, Orion let out a beam of hard blue light right on its face, stunning the pteroeagle and making it retreat clumsily.

Then the four flew back and Henny let go of Aerrow's wrist when they were above Condor's landing path. Everyone cheered for their leader and his buddy, glad that both were okay. The boy smiled at his friends, assuring them that they were fine, then addressed the foreign pair.

"Thanks for helping us out, you guys. I'm glad we all got out." - the sky knight said.

"Actually, I regret not taking you guys here sooner. We could have avoided all of that. I apologize for putting you in danger, that was all my fault." - Henny lowered her head.

"Hey, hey, it's no biggie, really! Relax." - Finn spoke. Woah, she was really making a big deal of that! She giggled a bit.

"Sorry. I'm just nervous. I've been training all this time with Orion to be part of the Royal Army. So we have to try to protect our mates the best we can!" - she told them.

"That's pretty cool!" - Junko commented - "Can you tell us more about you?"

"Sure! I'll take you guys to my village so you can get some supplies and rest. I'll tell you whatever you want to know on the way. I hope this will compensate my clumsiness." - she smiled awkwardly.

"We're all okay. Nothing to worry about." - Aerrow assured her putting his fists on his hips.

Piper stared at him while he said that, then lowered her head, her face was a frown. Nothing to worry about? She thought as everyone started walking. She wasn't so sure about that. Then she proceeded to follow everyone.

* * *

Everyone was walking in a large road. There wasn't one single form of vegetation around them, only a huge flat brown terrain that seemed to have no end. Though you could see in the distance what looked like a wall.

"Over there is the entrance to the Reign." - Henny pointed to the wall as Finn and Stork stared at it with shocked expressions. Oh, the distance they'll have to walk!

"So... What's your Reign called?" - Junko asked.

"This is the Warmya Reign. It has this name because this place is warm all the time. There's no winter, no summer, no season at all." - the lilac girl told them.

"What exactly is it?" - Stork pointed to Orion.

The creature glared at him, offended because he talked about it as if it was a monster, instead of addressing it by its name. The sudden reaction made the merb yell an "Eek!". Henny just smiled awkwardly and stroke Orion gently, trying to prevent it from acting aggressively. The creature quickly calmed down, it didn't really mean any harm, but the green humanoid could use some manners!

"Orion is a male Xeedwox. I am an official Xeedwox Breeder, all of my village get tamed Xeedwoxes from me." - she replied.

"That's nice." - Aerrow commented smiling towards the creature, then he looked back at her - "How did you become a Xeedwox Breeder?"

"After training a bit how to treat and mount on already tamed Xeedwoxes, when we're old enough, we have our first contact with a wild Xeedwox we need to tame." - she told him.

"I guess Orion is that Xeedwox." - Piper figured.

"Exactly!" - the foreign girl smiled as Orion stroke his head against the navigator's arm, confirming she was correct and making the blue haired girl giggle - "That was an interesting adventure..." - she began.

* * *

_"I was on my way to a Xeedwox cave."_

_A lilac girl wearing two pigtails, a purple and white dress, white pants, purple shoes and a large purple ribbon around her waist was climbing a hill. After she reached the top, she saw huge cave. When she got inside, she noticed the path was too steep, so she started climbing down carefully. When she was halfway there, one of the rocks below her feet gave up and she slid right into a big Xeedwox that was asleep._

* * *

"Suddenly, two huge bright eyes appeared!" - Henny said in a macabre tone.

Stork, Finn and Junko unleashed a scream of terror and the wallop embraced both his friends, smashing their bones. Aerrow's and Piper's eyes widened, and when Radarr hid behind the Sky Knight's shoulder, the boy smiled at his buddy's reaction, while the girl giggled at the blonde's and the merb's expressions.

* * *

_The beast woke up and roared fiercely at Henny. The girl screamed in terror as the sharp claws were ready to strike at her. The combination of those sounds echoing in the cave made the ground give up. So it shook and then a small gap opened, leading to an abyss. Scared cries echoed inside the cave. They were coming from the crack in the ground. The big Xeedwox recognized her cub hanging from a small platform and lowered her head, trying to fit it in the gap, but it was too small for her._

_"I'll go get it!" - Henny tried to offer her help, but the mother Xeedwox didn't trust her and growled at her._

_"Then, another cry was heard: the cub was about to fall! The mother was desperate now."_

_"Please, let me help you." - Henny tried to reason with her again, finally earning her trust, so she went into the gap._

_When she was able to grasp the cub's paw, she proceeded to pull it, but the platform gave up under her feet and both started falling. She held the cub firmly with one arm and used the other to untie her ribbon from her waist and use it as a lasso to prevent then from falling to their death. She managed to stuck the ribbon around a pointy rock, but that alone couldn't hold their weight for too long. The beast was crying, it was really scared._

_"Hey, hey. It's okay. We'll get out of this. I promise." - she managed to calm it down - "You should try to fly to your mother." - at that, the creature cringed, it had never tried to fly before - "Just flap your wings with confidence. You can do this, I know it, and you know it too!"_

_At that the creature felt confident enough. It flapped its wings and started flying, but the wind produced by the flapping of the wings was so strong that when it touched the rocky walls, everything started shaking again. That area was really sensitive to any kind of perturbation! Suddenly, a beam of light and a loud sound similar to the one of an explosion came: the Xeedwox mother had made a big hole and managed to bring her head down the crack!_

_The little Xeedwox held its mother's horn with both paws and offered its tail to the girl, so she could leave the crack too! Henny smiled at the little one and held its tail. The big Xeedwox quickly pulled them all as the crack was starting to close because of the perturbations. After everyone had been saved, the Xeedwox mother wasn't hostile anymore, and the little one had become really friendly towards Henny. The mother understood that her cub wanted to be with the girl, so she allowed it to leave the cave with the stranger._

* * *

"And that's how I tamed my first Xeedwox, or should I say, that's how he tamed himself for me." - she giggled and Orion smiled.

"That's pretty incredible! It looks like you can understand the beings from here in another level!" - Piper said - "You managed to earn their trust so quickly, that was impressive, considering you've never had contact with them before."

"And they're considered dangerous because they're very skittish." - the lilac girl said, while Orion was looking at her and shaking his head, denying part of what she had just said - "Of course, some are very kind and friendly since always, like you, Orion." - she added, making the Xeedwox smile in agreement.

"So... How long have you two been partners?" - Aerrow asked while Radarr stretched his neck and smiled, eager to know the answer.

"I think it'll be 167 years in two months, right Orion?" - she said, and the Xeedwox thought a bit then nodded confirming that while everyone was speechless.

"167 years?! That's a lot!" - Junko said.

"How old are you? Because you don't look like you're that old!" - Finn asked and Piper glared at him. Talk about sounding rude!

"Well, time actually passes by so quickly, I never thought that was too long until you said that, Junko. And I'm 214 right now, Finn! While Orion is 192. What about you guys?" - Henny was curious as well.

"Well, we don't live that long... So we're just 14, except for Stork, he's in his early twenties."

"Woah! You're indeed short-lived!" - she was amazed.

"After what you said about time passing by so quickly, I thought about something: how long exactly did it take for that "lone dark energy" to return after it came here for the first time?" - Piper asked.

"I think it was 6 months." - she said.

"6 months?" - everyone was astonished.

"Well, it looks like times really passes by faster in here than in Atmos. Since Cyclonis came back to Atmos after her trip to the Far Side, it took a few weeks until we finally defeated her cyclonian empire and chased after her." - Piper explained.

"Woah, that is pretty intriguing. But still, you guys are short-lived, specially here then, you'll grow older even faster." - Henny commented - "If here my people generally live 1000 years, in Atmos we'd live for almost 5000 years! While you guys might not make it after 30 in here!"

At that Finn screamed like a little girl.

"Guys, let's do this mission quickly and get out!" - the blonde said - "I don't want to die so early! I'm already feeling like I'm a few years older!" - he was becoming more desperate and Piper just shook her head, disappointed with his immature behavior.

"But being short-lived isn't as bad as you think actually. Because of that you guys have so much drive! I can sense you've been in so many adventures in so few years!" - Henny spoke.

"Haha, yeah, we have quite a few stories to tell." - Piper giggled.

"Oh, speaking of 'stories to tell', I'm known as the storyteller in my village, because I also have lots of adventures I like to share with my friends." - Henny commented - "I can tell you all my stories if you guys tell me yours too!"

"Sure!" - Aerrow said and Radarr chirped in agreement, the little guy also wanted to hear more stories!

He even leaped from his leader's shoulders and landed on Orion's back to ride him a bit. The Xeedwox smiled at the little animal. Everyone else seemed to agree as well, it'd be a good way to know more about the Far Side through Henny.

"Great! Now let me tell you about this day my friend Tyron wanted his Killerhammer to fight Orion to prove he was the best fighter!"

"Killerhammer?" - Stork started - "Is this some kind of scourge?" - he asked and all the other Storm Hawks looked at him in disbelief, Finn even made a gesture suggesting the merb was insane, while the others just smiled and shook their heads - "What? I'd name a plague as that." - he shrugged and spoke calmly.

"Oh, no, nothing like that." - Henny laughed awkwardly - "They're actually really big hounds and are generally very mean. They're usually seen in the wild, using their spiky fur to hunt their prey."

"Woah! It looks like everything here has some skills!" - Finn commented - "Why aren't you cool like these creatures from here, Radarr?" - the blonde teased the animal and the latter responded with a growl: he was clearly angry at him.

Henny then paid attention to the mission specialist. He surely looked familiar.

"You know, I think I might have seen Radarr's kind around here somewhere." - she said.

"Really?" - Aerrow was surprised - "So you're saying Radarr's species might come from the Far Side?" - he wondered and everyone stared at his co-pilot.

"Then how did he get to the other side? It can't be." - Piper was trying to find logic in that. How intriguing!

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head ache." - Finn said, much to Piper's and Radarr's annoyance - "Let's just hear Henny's story, shall we?" - he said and the lilac girl giggled.

The sharpshooter was really a person that only cared about the high points, she was surprised that he was interested in her stories at all!

"Well, that all happened a few months after I met Orion..." - she began telling her story as all continued walking.

* * *

An empty rocky terrain could be seen. It was dark, almost as if it was at night, even though the light from the huge tower would illuminate the place partially. The sound of a person walking and hiding among the rocks could be heard. The person was a blonde man, none other than Domiwick.

He poked his head out of his hiding place to take a quick look around, then hid again. It seemed he was trying to discreetly make his way towards somewhere. He looked upwards and saw a huge building: a castle. He gasped at the magnificence of the place. He thought about going to knock on the door, but he hesitated as he remembered what had happened last time he tried to make contact with someone from the Far Side.

* * *

_It was a little dark. The soft wind from the morning hit the waters of that little beach. A man with a breather had just left the water: Domiwick. The explorer walked along the sand._

_"Finally, I found the passage to the Far Side of the Atmos!" - he said after taking in with much awe the landscape he had seen - "I'm making history! I'll be known and revered forever because of my greatest achievement!"_

_He entered a cave and climbed to the edge of the big terrain. He was ecstatic! He have never seen a place like that! A huge cavern with several paths filled with crystals. But it did look as if there was a civilization there, because some of the paths seemed to have been altered by some kind of "people". It was so exciting! Wanting to take a better look at his surroundings, he tried to take the breather off, but got his head stuck._

_"Darn it!" - he cursed angrily._

_Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky in that moment, his voice echoed through the tunnels of the caves, awakening dormant beings who were there. He was still focused on getting rid of the helmet stuck tight._

_"I should have caught the wallop's breather!" - he complained._

_Until he turned around and bumped into a creature that seemed to be very angry at him. Next to it was a man, also mad at his presence. It looked like they really hate to be perturbed in their sleep!_

_"Hehe... Er... Sorry for bothering you... I just got here, and... I got stuck in this breather here." - he said the most embarrassing way imaginable while pointing to his head, but then regained his composure - "But I came in peace. And I actually just wanted to talk about your civilization."_

_The man just stared at him with a weird expression. He didn't like him and saw him as an inconvenience, so he motioned to the creature beside him to attack. The effeminate cries of the "brave" explorer running from the huge beings who pursued him at high speed could be heard from the distance._

_After quite sometime being chased, Domiwick found himself standing in front of a huge wall, with nowhere left to run. It was a dead end! Once he turned around he saw he was cornered by the angry creatures._

_"Hehehe." - he laughed nervously - "Can't we talk this out? I can give you some exotic things from the Atmos in return if you guys just let me make a documentary." - he tried to negotiate, but they didn't seem to be interested._

_Suddenly, the ground started shaking, all the creatures looked backwards and Domiwick looked past them: the huge gates of the castle were opening not too far from their location. From inside the castle came several waves of Night Crawlers, swarming the skies above them. The creatures unleashed loud high pitched sounds, as if they were scared and retreated quickly to the depths of the caves._

_"This can't be good." - the explorer was scared too, though he didn't know who the Night Crawlers were, he knew that if they managed to scare those frightening beasts so easily, they shouldn't be messed with._

_Then a portal opened in the sky, and the waves of Night Crawlers went through it. Domiwick noticed something different among that swarm and squinted his eyes trying to see what was it: he couldn't believe in his eyes, that was Master Cyclonis!_

_Before he could even take in the information she went through the portal too and it closed behind her._

* * *

At last, after about three days, here he was in front of the castle's entrance. Suddenly, he saw another portal opening and Cyclonis stepped out of it. She looked at the castle's gate, mumbled something then entered.

"Hmpf. I think she might let me in." - Domiwick spoke to himself - "She's probably the most reasonable person I'll find around here right now. Besides..." - he remembered what Snipe had done when they reached the Forbidden City a few months ago - "She does owe me after that stupid Snipe ruined our deal!"

He got out of his hiding place and made it to the castle unnoticed right before the gate closed.

* * *

_"Orion was doing just fine until he got pinned down!"_

_The Killerhammer launched some of its spiky fur and managed to stuck the Xeedwox's wings on the ground, immobilizing him!_

_"Great job, Hansel!" - Tyron cheered for his hound - "Now end this!"_

_The animal jumped on Orion and held him down, waiting for the judge watching their battle to finish counting the 10 seconds and declare him the winner._

_"No, Orion! Get out of there!" - Henny pleaded._

_"5! 4! 3!" - the judge was counting._

_At the very moment the judge said the number 2, Orion turned his neck around and, facing Hansel from a really close distance, unleashed really bright light right on his face. The hound leaped backwards, stunned, then the Xeedwox took the moment to stand up a bit and use his tail to pin the Killerhammer down._

_Applying some pressure to the hound's neck, Orion managed to immobilize him for the 10 seconds needed._

_"3! 2! 1! Orion is the winner!" - the judge declared._

_"You did it, Orion! I knew you could do it!" - Henny hugged her best friend._

_"Your puppy there is tougher than it looks." - Tyron admitted - "Still, Hansel gave him a lot of trouble." - he patted his Killerhammer on the head, making the beast smile proudly._

_"Yeah, Hansel is pretty skilled. We should train more often. We won't get to the Royal Guard so soon without doing that!" - she giggled._

_Both nodded and shook hands after a friendly sparring time._

* * *

"And that's how Orion won his first fight ever." - the girl finished.

"It looks like Orion is a quick thinker. That was a pretty impressive turn around." - Piper commented and the Xeedwox smiled at her, making her smile back at him.

Radarr chirped happily at the big black creature, and both high-fived. Aerrow smiled at that, looks like his co-pilot made a new good friend. Maybe that experience with dragons helped Radarr to open up more easily.

"So you guys train during the sparring time, then." - the Sky Knight figured.

"Yep." - the lilac girl replied - "It does improve a lot our skills while we're having some fun!"

"That's right!" - Finn said - "See, Piper? Even in the Far Side this is training!" - he poked the navigator's elbow while referring to what she had said about their "combat training" last time they had done that.

"Sure, but their training doesn't include blowing up a ship with dangerous and unknown crystals!" - she retorted glaring at him, reminding the blonde boy that he and the guys were actually just messing around in her lab while she was trying to stabilize a crystal that just happened to be a Leech Crystal. Funny, huh?

The sharpshooter just smiled awkwardly and shrugged, reminded that it was thanks to Piper's help that they hadn't met their doom by Ravess's hands that day. Trying to not lose his composure, he quickly changed the subject.

"And when will we reach the village?" - he asked.

"You spoke just in time, Finn: welcome to my village, guys, the Borderlines Xeedwox Village!" - the lilac girl replied looking backwards at him - "It has this name because it's at the very border of warmyan territory and because this is the home of the tamed Xeedwoxes."

"You call this a village? It's bigger than a whole city!" - the sharpshooter said astonished.

Everyone was looking in awe at a huge stone arc marking the boundary of the village's lands. They were amazed at the extent of that place that was larger than entire Terra Atmosia! In addition, its buildings were as pretty as the most beautiful ones from Terra Vapos.

"Well, since this is a borderline village, it has to be bigger and better guarded, after all, they're like gateways to the rest of the kingdom!" - she explained.

"That makes perfect sense." - Piper agreed nodding - "Your people seem to be really organized, Henny."

"Thanks, Piper." - she smiled shyly - "It's not easy maintaining order in such a large kingdom, that's one reason Orion and I applied to become part of the Royal Guard." - she gestured to her partner and placed a hand on her heart - "We want to help and I'm sure we'll pass on the test, right Orion?" - she looked at her friend and the Xeedwox made a high pitched sound to show he agreed with her and shared her confidence.

"That's actually pretty cool. In Atmos not everyone can be accepted to become a Sky Knight squadron, even if they really want to help." - Aerrow explained - "When we tried to apply to become the Storm Hawks, we got turned down just because they thought we were too young." - he stroke the back of his head at the memory.

"Wow, now that's a bummer!" - she frowned - "There's no age restriction in here, I don't know why there should be a restriction like that at all. It's not easy finding people wanting to help, and when they do they turn them down?" - she was indignant - "They are wasting a chance that might happen once in a lifetime! If you guys have the skills and the gear covered, why not just accept you no matter your age?" - she shook her head in disbelief, she had no idea things worked like that in the Atmos. That was so yesterday!

"That's exactly what I had thought, Henny!" - Piper said placing a hand on the lilac girl's shoulder, remembering her own disappointed words at that very day. Both smiled at each other knowingly.

"Still..." - Aerrow started speaking, making both stare at him - "They ended up needing us. And even though we weren't considered official, our good deeds were recognized and appreciated."

"Ah, that's the least they could do!" - Henny smiled - "Well, don't you guys want to come? I'll show you around." - she volunteered as a guide - "Let's go to my house first to get some supplies and food for you." - she proceed to walk through the entrance with the Storm Hawks following close behind.

* * *

Cyclonis walked in the aisles of the huge castle. She stopped by a mirror that was not a common mirror, it could show everything that happened in the Far Side. The girl went near the mirror and started looking for the Storm Hawks.

Meanwhile, Domiwick was lost in one of the many corridors. The place was already dark inside, being also a maze turned everything even harder! He kept walking aimlessly, when suddenly, he heard a weird sound and tried to hide somewhere, but when he turned around he bumped on an empty iron armor that was next to the wall, knocking it on the ground and making a loud noise.

The Empress was startled by the noise and looked to the side. There, standing next to the fallen armor was the blonde explorer. He was in a pretty awkward scared pose when she placed her eyes on him. He cleaned his throat and assumed a serious posture.

"What a surprise! I didn't expect the explorer Domiwick to be here." - she ironically greeted him.

"Cyclonis, I believe we have some unfinished business to settle." - he started, crossing his arms - "I'm not satisfied! You owe me at least a refund."

"Oh, I see, was it Snipe?" - she said in a cynical voice - "Don't worry, he has already been punished." - she stared at a painting of the Wastelands hanging on the wall and the explorer's eyes widened. That was... Pretty severe. He quickly regained his composure, she still had to make up for the spoiled ploy!

"That doesn't pay back the money I wasted on that expedition though." - he complained - "I need either a refund or resources for free!"

The girl giggled darkly as she saw through the mirror that the Storm Hawks had reached a village and a lilac girl was with them.

"That can be provided." - she had an evil smirk - "Actually, I can provide resources that are worth much more than you paid for and for free." - she glanced at him and by the look on his face he seemed interested, but didn't fully trust her words - "You'll just have to make a few things for me, though you can have the resources right now."

"I think that sounds reasonable. You better not go back on what you said this time, or the deal is over."

"Don't worry, you'll not be disappointed." - she then addressed a Night Crawler that was just passing by - "Take our guest to any of the quarters. I have other business to attend to at the moment."

The dark hooded soldier nodded and led the explorer down the corridor. Cyclonis had a malevolent smile: she was up to something very bad for the Storm Hawks...


	4. Warriors From Affair - To The Capital

**Episode 53 - Warriors From Affair**

**Part 3 - To The Capital**

"This arch is the entrance to the town." - Henny showed the place to her new friends - "Here is the square, where our important events happen, like the Xeedwox Festival." - the lilac girl said pointing to a huge fountain pouring clear water that flowed in the center of a courtyard with several kiosks full of different things, stone benches, exotic trees and some Xeedwoxes statues.

"This festival sounds like fun! I bet there's a lot of food!" - Junko said excitedly.

"Indeed, there is! One day you guys should stick around for a moment to enjoy the festival." - the warmyan giggled - "This is the local council of the village. This council is formed by a group of reliable people selected by the King himself." - the girl said, showing a mansion with beautiful architecture and two Xeedwoxes statues on either side of door.

"So it's like the Sky Council from Terra Atmosia, but with a bit less influence." - Piper asked.

"Exactly." - Henny nodded.

They all continued walking when a certain building caught Aerrow's attention: it looked like a kind of temple, with several columns holding the ceiling. It looked ancient.

"Henny, what's in that building?" - he pointed to the temple.

"Good question, I'll reveal the answer." - she led the squad to the huge temple, where they walked through a narrow corridor with a door at the end - "You will now see something very sacred and special to our village. Something that belonged to the very first civilizations from the Greatland." - the warmyan opened the door and showed a large marble tub full of water supported by a broad pedestal.

"What is it?" - Finn asked.

"This is a Thought Trough, it reveals things you want to know."

"How does it work? It's not a kind of hallucinating drug, is it?" - Stork asked while Finn and Junko stared creeped out and Aerrow and Piper just shook their heads.

"Don't worry, no drugs. I'll show you how it works." - she approached the tub and whispered: "Storm Hawks".

The water began to rise and produce a light towards the ceiling that could be seen clearly because of smoke that arose. Moving figures appeared in the light, like a hologram, showing some moments experienced by the squadron: their first victory against Cyclonia in the day Aerrow destroyed the Aurora Stone; the mission that freed Terra Gale's squadron; the Timepulse repair in Terra Glockenchime; the expedition to the Forbidden City on Terra Xoam; the Polaris Pointe destruction; the shut down of the Talon Academy; their training with Ayrgyn; the destruction of the Exopod in the space; the expulsion of the Night Crawlers from Terra Klockstoppia; the destruction of the Suit of Untold Vengeance and the Medulla Crystal; the rescue of the Neck Deeps in Terra Aquanos; and the victory against Cyclonia rising.

"Wow, that's incredible!" - Aerrow said.

"I'm the one in awe here." - Henny commented - "You guys are real heroes! I just have to take you to the kind! I'm sure he'll contribute to your cause."

"That'd be a great help, Henny." - Piper thanked her.

"I'll do anything to help you!" - Henny saluted - "But... You can't go dressed like that."

"Why? What is wrong with our uniforms?" - Junko asked checking himself out.

"Well... How can I say this? They are a little... Informal." - the girl shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

"I know what you mean... We have another set of uniforms, but they are back there in the Condor." - Stork told her.

"Sweet! We'll use the new uniforms!" - the sharpshooter celebrated then, after seeing his leader's expression didn't authorize this change of clothes, he completed - "Aerrow, don't forget you said we would save them for special occasions. I think a visit to the King of Warmya is special enough, don't you?" - he pleaded with his stare.

Aerrow was quiet, though, he was still deciding. He really didn't feel like wearing clothes that reminded him of Carver, plus, they had the colors of the Red Eagles, not of the Storm Hawks.

"This time you have to agree that Finn is right, Aerrow." - Piper said - "Those are our only new clothes. These uniforms have been repaired and washed so many times that the clothing is pretty much ruined." - she slid her finger by her glove, feeling the harmed clothing - "It's actually just a matter of time until our uniforms become dust." - she frowned.

At her last speech, Finn, Stork, Junko and Radarr quickly put their hands in front of their pants, as if they were expecting their clothes to disappear at any given moment.

"Fine. Let's wear them." - the Sky Knight finally allowed.

"But for that, we will have to walk all these miles that we just walked again." - the merb spoke in a pessimistic way.

"If you are tired I can solve this problem. Come to my house." - the warmyan offered.

Henny and Orion were leading everyone, until the girl noticed Piper was left behind.

"Follow Orion, I'll catch up with you guys in a sec!" - she said, then quickly sprinted back to the room they were in previously.

She saw Piper by the tub, staring intensely at the water. The Crystal Mage didn't show any reaction towards Henny's presence, she didn't move her eyes from the water.

"I can feel a lot of turmoil in you." - the lilac girl said, startling Piper.

The Crystal Mage turned around and stared at her.

"Turmoil?" - the voice of the spying sky knight whispered.

He was starting to get worried, what was wrong with Piper? Then he heard Henny talking again and paid attention.

"I know what you're trying to see there." - the warmyan said - "But there are things that are best unknown to us." - she placed a hand on Piper's shoulder - "Don't think too much about it. That might make things worse."

"I-I guess you're right." - the blue haired girl murmured.

"Hm..." - Aerrow frowned, then he heard the sound of their steps coming closer and quickly ran out of the corridor, so they'd not see him.

The two girls made it outside not long after Aerrow and they didn't notice nor suspected he had been listening to their conversation.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." - Piper apologized.

"Is everything okay?" - he asked.

"Yeah." - she smiled - "Now let's go."

He observed as she ran past him with Henny following close behind. He was wondering what was in Piper's mind. He noticed he couldn't predict the way she was feeling so well anymore. Not too long ago he was able to read her like a book, but now it was like there was a massive wall preventing him from doing that. He pushed his thoughts aside and ran after them. Shortly after they caught up with the rest of the group and continued on their way to Henny's house.

After a short walk, they arrived at Henny's home. It looked like a small ranch, nothing fancy. The small house's roof was made of straw and hay, the walls were made of stone and there was a small wooden fence around two other Xeedwoxes.

"I'm taking care of two Xeedwoxes, so you can catch a ride with them." - the warmyan whistled and the two winged creatures came - "This is Gyru and this is Moone, they are already tamed, you can mount on them."

Moone was a female Xeedwox, she had dark rose scales covering her body, pink membranes on her wings and tail fins, pink shinning eyes, small sharp claws on her paws and a small nose like the one of a wallop. She was slender and had a more delicate body, she didn't have horns on her head, instead she had a long fin that came from the top of her head and fell by one of the sides of her head.

Gyru was a male Xeedwox and Moone's younger brother. He had dark red scales, red shinning eyes, red membranes on the wings, tail and head fins, two small horns, a small nose like the one of a wallop, though it wasn't sharp yet, and big claws on the paws, not sharp either. Even though Gyru was younger, he was bigger, he was going to be a really big Xeedwox when he becomes an adult.

"They're really beautiful!" - Piper was in awe. Such wonderful creatures!

Moone dashed gracefully towards Orion and made a happy high pitched noise, greeting him. The black Xeedwox lowered his head awkwardly, but not moving his eyes from her stare. Henny was standing next to the Crystal Mage and turned to her giggling.

"You know, Orion always acts funny when he's around Moone." - she giggled - "I think he has a crush on her, but he always denies when I ask." - she giggled a bit more - "Boys can be so stubborn!"

"Tell me about it!" - Piper said staring at the guys.

They really could be a handful sometimes, specially the blonde boy. When both creatures were ready, Finn and Junko mounted on Gyru, the red Xeedwox felt the wallop's weight was a lot and shivered a bit, Piper and Stork mounted on Moone, and Aerrow and Radarr were with Henny and Orion. All took off.

"I have to admit, these creatures fly really smoothly!" - Stork praised after he observed the creatures flying.

"It must be incredible to do aerial stunts with them." - Aerrow said.

"So you like adventure. I think you'll love to fly with Orion then." - Henny said - "Moone! Come a little bit closer!" - the female Xeedwox approached, the lilac girl leaped and mounted on her - "Orion, show what you can do!"

Orion started flying higher and higher and made a series of multiple loops and turns in the air. Radarr clung tightly to Aerrow's arm, while the latter was enjoying the adrenaline. A typical "Wooooohooooo!" could be heard from the Sky Knight when the Xeedwox dived and flew really close to the ground while spinning in the air a few times. Aerrow could touch the ground if he reached his hand out.

Soon, Henny mounted again on her partner and all continued on their way. Within minutes they were in the Condor, wearing the new uniforms. When they appeared well-dressed, the lilac girl grinned admired. Now they were presentable!

"I missed this uniform!" - Finn hugged himself as he and the others walked down the ramp to exit the Condor.

Piper giggled at Finn's happiness, while Junko and Stork checked themselves out and agreed the new uniforms were better. Aerrow, however, didn't feel well. He really didn't want to wear Carver's colors nor did he want his team to wear them, but that had to be done.

Finally, they flew to the capital, WarmTown.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Night Crawler's tower, Cyclonis was walking by one of the creepy and dark corridors and met with four of her elite soldiers.

"We're ready, Master." - the Night Crawler with red shiny eyes said.

"Very well." - she replied and knocked on the door that was by her left.

Shortly after, Domiwick opened the door.

"Have you brought me any resources?" - he asked.

"Yes, I did." - she gestured to one of the Night Crawlers holding a bag that contained exploration equipments and the dark elite soldier handed it to the blonde man - "I need you to show this squadron how did you get to the Far Side. They'll protect you from harm and you can explore whatever you want on the way."

"Although this seems good, it still looks like my only chance to do my job is when it benefits you. I don't want to be held down by that, I wish to be able to explore whenever I want." - he commented.

"And you will. I'll have a small squadron escort you whenever you go out. I just need your knowledge every now and then." - Cyclonis explained.

"Then we have a deal." - he put the bag on his back - "I'll show you where I came from."

He walked among the Night Crawlers and left, while Cyclonis just smirked. Everything was going according to what she had planned. The explorer's presence just helped her even more! Soon she'd have what she wants.

* * *

Arriving at the king's palace in WarmTown, the Storm Hawks were amazed, it was a beautiful place! It had many fountains, a huge garden full of various types of plants, paths of green stones leading up to the front portal, where they landed, and some guards with Killerhammers protecting the front door.

"I request an audience with His Majesty." - Henny told one of the guards, then she approached him even more to whisper on his ear - "It is important that these news will not be spread too much, I'm here with a very, very special visit: they're newcomers from Atmos."

The guard was ecstatic. He was curious about the visitors. He called one of the king's lackey and told him the news. The footman quickly understood everything and led the squad to the throne room entrance hall.

"Wait a moment, I'll let His Majesty know about your arrival." - the lackey said.

After a few seconds, the doors opened, revealing the huge room which had walls filled with gold and crystals, many yellow flags with the symbol of Warmya Reign - an orange sun - falling from the ceiling and several sculptures and paintings with some of the most important moments in warmyan history. The servant appeared in front of the visitors and spoke to them again.

"You may come, the king awaits you."

They came in, letting out some gasps of awe, and stood in front of a staircase with a few steps that reached to the throne. The chair itself was majestic, one could feel the importance the king had and how great a person had to be to become the king. They all bowed respectfully. The king got up and went downstairs. Then stared at them all, but looked specially at Aerrow. He could see some of the Sky Knight's feats just by staring at his eyes and he was amazed by that fact that a kid could pull all that off.

"Welcome to my palace. I'm Eridius, King of Warmya. What brings you to the Greatland?" - the king presented himself. He was tall, had dark purple skin, dark sclera and light blue irises. His white hair grew a little bit beyond his shoulders and he kept it away from his face thanks to his crown. His beard rested on his chest. He wore an orange leather outfit and golden armor, along with a yellow and long cape and a golden crown with an orange crystal.

"We are pursuing a really dangerous person that has escaped from the Atmos, she's Master Cyclonis." - Aerrow informed the kind.

"I see. I have received reports of a dark energy coming to the Greatland and an abnormally large number of Hooded Shadows moving out. Was that her?" - he asked.

"Yes. She used those soldiers to go to war against all the Terras from the Atmos. She tried to enslave everyone and almost succeeded!" - Piper told him - "Fortunately, we managed to break through this new technology she brought from here and win the war, but she entered the door to the Far Side and we came after her."

"Hm... That's not good. She has access to way too many resources. The Hooded Shadows are a faction you always wish to not cross paths with. They've been trouble in the past and I'm afraid they might become trouble now again." - the king pondered putting a hand to his chin.

"And that's why we're here. We need to find her and arrest her as soon as possible." - the Sky Knight said.

"I'll have my men prepared and ready to go with you in your mission. You'll need all the back up you can get. And I'm sure you need supplies for your journey, so take anything you need." - he announced - "The Greatland has many dangers that are unknown to you, so you'll need help, and the Warmya Kingdom is honored to serve you."

"We're very grateful, Your Highness." - the Crystal Mage bowed and the king nodded.

"My fine lady." - the king gestured to Henny - "I see you are here for another reason as well. Please, speak."

"Indeed I am, Your Highness." - she bowed - "I wish to apply to become part of the Royal Army, alongside my partner, Orion." - she gestured to the Xeedwox who lowered his head as if he were bowing down too, then both saluted.

"Oh, that's great." - he clapped twice then a few guards entered the room - "Please, take this lady to register herself and her friend to apply to the Royal Army and begin their tests immediately."

After hearing that Henny became really excited! Her dream was going to become truth!

"Thank you, Your Highness." - she and Orion bowed once more - "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my registry." - she then left with two guards.

"Now, see that our visitors are properly fed, geared and rested. Here, take this with you." - he handed Aerrow a piece of paper that looked like a ticket - "This is a reserve I've made for you on the best restaurant in town."

"We appreciate your help, King Eridius. I hope we'll be successful." - the red haired boy said.

"I hope so too." - Eridius said solemnly.

He could feel something wrong was going on in the Greatland and he really hoped it'd not become another war. His people shouldn't suffer again, he just couldn't bear it. The Storm Hawks bowed and accompanied the guards that indicated the way they should go to get to the restaurant.

* * *

Cyclonis was inside a very dark room, she lit up a panel in front of her that illuminated the room with red light coming from all the keys and buttons. There was also a red holographic screen that only showed some kinds of commands.

The young Empress typed something on the keyboard and her command appeared written on the screen, along with some icons indicating that a squadron of Night Crawlers had been sent to patrol, another for reckon and another one to hunt down the Storm Hawks.

* * *

After a few minutes walking, the Storm Hawks were standing in front of a huge fancy restaurant, called Iyi Plaka, with several golden details around the big door. They entered. The place was half full, the attendant that was next to the toilet came to them.

"How can I help?" - he asked politely.

"We would like a table for six, please." - Aerrow said.

"Do you have reservations?" - the man asked - "And I'm sorry, but pets aren't allowed inside."

Radarr growled. Who was he calling a pet?! He should show him a thing or two and...! Before he even finished his thoughts, his Sky Knight blocked his way, so he wouldn't attack the attendant. Oh, well, maybe another time.

"Your Highness, King Eridius, reserved a table for six." - Piper explained while Aerrow handed the man the ticket.

The attendant skeptically looked at the ticket, but then he gasped: it was truly King Eridius' seal and signature!

"And Radarr is coming with us, he is a part of our squadron." - the green eyed boy told him, while the co-pilot nodded then smirked at the attendant.

"A table for... Six... Is coming on the best side of the restaurant for the visitors." - the man bowed.

They all sat on a round table. In a clockwise order, there was Piper, Aerrow, Radarr, Stork, Junko and Finn. The waiter handed them six menus.

"What will you order?" - the waiter asked.

"Hm... It's kinda hard to choose. I've never seen this stuff before." - Finn said while trying to read the words from the menu. So many weird names! And what would the food be like?

Stork started trembling thinking the same Finn did. What if they were allergic to the food or if that kind of food was toxic for them? Oh, the dangers of eating in a strange place... One bite of the wrong food and you're dead. They were totally doomed for sure!

"Having problems trying to decide what to eat?" - a voice spoke to them, snapping Stork out of his paranoia.

"Henny!" - Junko greeted excited - "You've arrived just in time. We have no idea of what they serve here and I'm starving!" - he had a pouty expression on his face, what made him look like a baby that was about to cry because he was hungry.

"Well, tell me what you liked to eat when you were in the Atmos, I can help you choose a fine lunch." - Henny suggested as she sat on a table close to theirs along with Orion.

They commented how were some of the food and the girl showed several similar options, then they asked a huge feast. When the waiter brought all the food, he was sweating from carrying so much weight. Suddenly, he tripped on Orion's long tail and almost let all the lunch go to waste, but Junko caught him in time, helping him up and placing the food on the table.

"Careful there, buddy." - the wallop said to the waiter who shrugged awkwardly and thanked his help.

"I'm terribly sorry. Orion didn't notice he was on the way." - Henny apologized while the Xeedwox hid his tail under their table, so nobody else would trip on it again.

Once everything was set on the table, Junko devoured one third of the food in a matter of seconds and he was starting the second third. If the others didn't eat fast, there'd be no food left for them!

"Wow! You eat faster than Orion!" - the Warmyan said and the wallop smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah. He defeated the Colonel in a duel of hazardous food too." - Finn said and patted his best friend on the shoulder.

"Impressive!" - she said, the Storm Hawks were really awesome, even when it comes down to such trivial things like a duel of hazardous food!

"Hey, Henny, how did your test go? Did you enter for the Royal Army?" - Piper asked.

"Yes, we did! We'll have some special training tomorrow in the morning and they even gave me these leather protections!" - she showed them the protections on her shoulders, elbows, wrists and chest.

"That's awesome, you go girl!" - Finn elbowed her lightly and she smiled at him.

"I'm going to the crystal mines to get some special armor made only there." - she told them - "I wanted to ask if you're interested in going there too. You could get upgrades for your own armors and weapons as well."

"That'd be great!" - Aerrow said - "We really could use some new tech."

"So you do use crystals around here. Is there any chance we'll find fuel crystals?" - Piper asked.

"Of course! Although we prefer to use the creatures from here as alternative transportation instead of those machines you have, we have many crystals, the king will provide what you need." - the foreign girl replied.

* * *

Domiwick was trying to remember the path he had made from that small beach to the castle. It was a bit hard to record any reference points when he was running away from the deadly beasts. He reached a fork in the way.

"I'm not completely sure of which path I came from." - he said to himself - "Do you happen to know about a small village nearby?" - he asked to the Night Crawlers.

They silently stared at each other in thought, three of them shaking their heads negatively, but one of them seemed to know about that. He quickly ran ahead taking one of the paths to scout and check if the village was there. Once he confirmed his suspicion, he signaled to the rest of the group, so they'd follow.

"Ah, yes, this is where I came from." - he said upon seeing the village - "Now, would you do me a small favor before we go there? I need to gather some information about this village, but they're hostile. Can you give me a hand?"

The Night Crawlers nodded and started speaking some weird language to the natives. They seemed to understand them and allowed Domiwick to collect all the information he needed. After some interviews with the help of a Night Crawler "translator" and some pictures, the explorer led the squadron to the small beach.

"Here we are." - he told them - "This path underwater leads to the lake from Terra Aquanos."

Suddenly a huge beast jumped from the water, making a loud and high pitched noise, making the blond man scream in horror, then it dove back on the water. Regaining his composure, he continued.

"But as you can see, it's filled with the Domiwick Beasts." - he gestured to the lake calmly, while the Night Crawlers glanced at each other confused. "Domiwick Beasts"? Was that how he named the white-fang whales? Lame.

Pushing that subject aside, the Captain of the squadron called Cyclonis.

"Master, we found the entrance. It leads to the lake from Terra Aquanos." - he told her.

'_That's perfect._' - she spoke through the communicator.

Back in her room, she continued.

"You may return, mark the path all the way back." - she ordered and turned the communicator off. She was smirking. Everything was happening the way she needed them to happen, her plans would flourish after all. Now she just had to wait for an update from the squadron she sent after the Storm Hawks.

* * *

After a nice meal, the Storm Hawks and their two foreign friends left the restaurant and made their way towards an excavation area with several deposits of crystals.

"These are the crystals reserves." - Henny showed them - "We can get how many cases we want, because the King has given you his permission."

"Sweet!" - Finn said.

"What exactly would be the armor upgrades you were talking about?" - Stork was interested, maybe he could upgrade the Condor's armor as well with that technique.

"I'll show you!" - she said.

Henny led them to a room that looked like a kind of forge, but it was different. There was no heat in the hearth, just several types of crystals.

"This is a crystal imbuing forge." - she explained - "This is how we upgrade our armor, let me demonstrate."

The lilac girl removed her violet vest and threw it inside the forge, then activated the smithy. Suddenly, all the crystals started glowing and shot beams of energy on the vest. The bright white light formed around the vest due to the combination of all the colors was really intense, everyone shielded their eyes. A few seconds later, the light faded and the vest was floating inside the forge. The foreign girl grabbed it and equipped it.

She focused a bit, and then the vest hardened and expanded a little, turning into a larger piece of armor. She grabbed a weapon that was resting on a table nearby, then turned to them.

"Now, blast me with anything." - she told them, but they were a bit hesitant - "C'mon, trust me, you won't harm me."

Aerrow lit up his blade and shot a bolt of crystal energy towards her. Once the bolt struck her, the armor formed a force shield, absorbing the energy from the blast and sending it to her weapon that glowed slightly upon receiving it. Everyone was speechless.

"The crystal imbued armor absorbs any crystal powered attack and sends the energy to power up our weapons." - she explained.

"Cool!" - the sharpshooter was impressed - "Beating the Night Crawlers with these will be a piece of cake!"

"But the force field can't do this indefinitely, it has a limit. Either a huge amount of energy in one single blast or several blasts combined can overload the shield and break through it." - she warned them.

"So they're like the shields from the Terra Bogaton scientists, but upgraded." - the Sky Knight commented.

"Also, they can't protect us from projectiles like Finn's arrows or weapons like Aerrow's blades. The crystal effect on them will be blocked, but the arrow and the blade themselves won't, so that means we can still be pierced and stabbed by them." - she told them.

"Thanks for telling us that, Henny. The shields will be really useful, but we can't think we're invincible with them." - Piper said - "They'll surely help a lot when we fight the Night Crawlers, because they have a lot of firepower."

"Indeed. I was actually wondering if there was anyway to do that for the Condor. She needs an upgrade like that." - Stork mentioned.

"Well, I don't think we have a forge big enough to convert the whole armor of the Condor at once, unless we remove all the parts of the ship's hull and pile them up in our larger forge." - she told him - "Would that be a problem?"

"Oh, no, not at all. As long as we keep her somewhere very guarded while we do it." - the merb said - "And as long as nobody leaves marks on the hull." - he muttered.

"Then consider it done!" - she said happily - "Now I'll show you the weapons upgrades." - she started leading everyone to another room.

But all of a sudden, they heard a commotion coming from a tunnel on the mines.

"What was that?" - Junko asked.

"I don't know, but that's not normal." - Henny told them.

"Then let's go check it out!" - Aerrow said.

Inside the tunnel, there was a lot of dust in the air and they couldn't see anything but shadows. After observing the shadows, they recognized that those were Night Crawlers. Henny gasped.

"_Why are the Hooded Shadows here in Warmya?_" - she whispered.

"_They're probably after us._" - Piper whispered back.

They saw the Night Crawlers walking towards them, and hid behind a rock as their shadows passed by it. One of them lifted his hand and turned on his communicator.

"We got everything we need from the mines. Have you dealt with the King yet?" - he spoke.

'_We're about to bust the Throne Room open._' - the voice said through the communicator.

"Great. Once the King falls, this Reign will follow." - he said smirking and laughed a bit.

The Storm Hawks and the two partners gasped. They had to do something or the King of Warmya is done for.


End file.
